Fredrick Douglas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fredrick Douglas - Essay Example nfairness, and he points out the undeserved whippings, extreme physical exertion, inconsistent punishments, killings, and the taking away of children from their mothers as incongruous brutality (Douglass ch 1). However, the narrative offers an interesting awareness of how to overcome adversity by revealing how knowledge especially through education can be a powerful tool in which people can free themselves from any form of mind control and oppression. Therefore, the aim of this response paper is to explain how Douglass narration is unique and effective in demonstrating the physical and mental outcome of slavery for a wide range of audiences, and how his use of several styles has enabled him to describe the sickness of abhorrence which can make human beings to treat their fellow humans as beasts of possessions. The main target audience for Douglass work seems to be the then Northern audience who were mainly educated whites, and had a greater conviction for greater social freedom. This is evident in chapter 4, whereby he reveals how the northern cities allowed him to freely connect with diverse kinds of individuals with novel intellectual ideas (Douglass). Also, in the preface he elaborates this by asserting that the debate in the north regarding slavery focused on the masters, and such a biased perspective without providing the real accounts of the slaves themselves only sustained the Southern slavery through its real and contrived approaches of imprisoning blacks (Douglass ch 1). Secondly, he also wanted the southern slave owners to read his works and in his conclusion, he asserts that hopefully his works will make the slaveholders to be more frantic regarding any thoughts of hidden antagonists around them, who are set to take away their slaves or obstruct them in reclaiming their runaway slaves (Douglass ch 10). However, one gets a perception that he was also targeting the slaves themselves since he has come out very strongly regarding what he calls the